Cool Announcement: My Journey to the United Kingdom

My Dear Poets and Readers:

In the back of my mind echo Basho's  words, "Every day is a journey, and the journey itself home." In a few hours, I'll embark on a journey to the United Kingdom, and hopefully I'll be back in shape on July 26th.

Have a great Summer!

Chen-ou.

A Room of My Own: Trump Cutout Senryu

Trump Claims "Obama Built the Cages" in First Telemundo Interview

stinky smell
behind the bars
a Trump cutout

Note: See my "To the Lighthouse" post, Joshi (Prefatory Note) as a Poetic Device.  And the following haiku could be read as a prequel to the senryu above:

firework-lit sky
in the detention window
a child's face

NeverEnding Story, July 4, 2018

Chen-ou Liu

One Man's Maple Moon: This Sadness Tanka by Saito Mokichi

English Original

somehow
this sadness
looking
at the coarseness of the girl
I'm sleeping with tonight

Red Lights, 1991

Saito Mokichi


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

不知何故
這種悲傷之感浮現
注視
今晚和我一起睡覺
女孩的粗俗舉止

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

不知何故
这种悲伤之感浮现
注视
今晚和我一起睡觉
女孩的粗俗举止


Bio Sketch

Saito Mokichi (May 14, 1882 -- February 25, 1953) was a psychiatrist and one of the most successful practitioners of the new tanka. In 1913, he published Shakko (Red Lights), a book that created a great impression not only on tanka poets but also on the literary world in general. In 1951, he received the Order of Culture.

Butterfly Dream: Tarot Haiku by Ben Moeller-Gaa

English Original

shooting star
i reshuffle
the tarot

Sonic Boom, 8, 2017

Ben Moeller-Gaa


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

流星
我重洗
塔羅牌

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

流星
我重洗
塔罗牌 


Bio Sketch

Ben Moeller-Gaa is a Pushcart nominee and the author of the 2018 Touchstone Award winning Wishbones (Folded Word 2018), a full length collection of haiku and senryu, as well as three chapbooks, Fiddle in the Floorboards (Yavanika Press 2018), Blowing on a Hot Soup Spoon (poor metaphor 2014) and the Pushcart nominated Wasp Shadows (Folded Word 2014). Find out more about Ben at www.benmoellergaa.com.

One Man's Maple Moon: Empty Night Tanka by Sanford Goldstein

English Original

Buddha,
pour me a cup of poetry
from your warm mouth
this empty
night

Wind Five Folded, 1996

Sanford Goldstein


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

佛佗，
從你溫暖的嘴
倒給我一杯詩
這個空虛
的黑暗夜晚

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

佛佗，
从你温暖的嘴
倒给我一杯诗
这个空虚
的黑暗夜晚 


Bio Sketch

Sanford Goldstein has been publishing tanka for more than fifty years.  He was born in l925 and is now 94 years old.  Long ago, he wrote haiku, but decided to focus on tanka.  His latest books, three in the last two years, have each said this would be his last.

Butterfly Dream: Wildflower Seeds Haiku by Olivier Schopfer

English Original

wildflower seeds
carried by the wind
the words I didn't say

Commended Haiku, 2016 Polish International Haiku Competition

Olivier Schopfer


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

野花的種子
隨風飄揚
我過去沒說過的話

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

野花的种子
随风飘扬
我过去没说过的话 


Bio Sketch

Olivier Schopfer lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He likes to capture the moment in haiku and photography. His work has appeared in anthologies, and numerous online and print journals. He is the author of three books: In the Mirror: Concrete Haiku (Scars Publications, 2018), So Many Miles: Fifty Senryu (Alien Buddha Press, 2019) and Half in Light, Half in the Shade: Haiku and Senryu (Cyberwit, 2019).

One Man's Maple Moon: Graveyard Tanka by Rachel Sutcliffe

English Original

fallen leaves
beneath my feet
in the graveyard
the memories I hold on to
and those I let go

Poetry Corner, October 2018

Rachel Sutcliffe


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我的腳下
有一堆落葉
在墓地沉思
一些我所保留的記憶
和那些被拋棄的記憶

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我的脚下
有一堆落叶
在墓地沉思
一些我所保留的记忆
和那些被抛弃的记忆 


Bio Sketch

Rachel Sutcliffe had suffered from a serious immune disorder for over 16 years; throughout  this time writing had been her therapy, and it kept her from going insane! She was an active member of the British Haiku Society and had been published in various journals including  Prune Juice, Failed Haiku and Hedgerow.

Butterfly Dream: Midnight Basketball Haiku by Neal Whitman

English Original

midnight basketball
the clang of a netless rim
under crescent moon

Finalist, 2011 Ito En Haiku Grand Prix

Neal Whitman


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

午夜打籃球
弦月下無網籃框
發出的鏗鏘聲

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

午夜打篮球
弦月下无网篮框
发出的铿锵声 


Bio Sketch

Neal Whitman lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife Elaine. He is the haiku editor for Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine and is Vice President of the United Haiku and Tanka Society.

Special Feature: Selected LGBTQ Tanka

My Dear Readers:

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising (June 28–29, 1969), known as the birth of the modern LGBTQ movement. I would like to share with you a set of  LGBTQ tanka that might help to deepen your understanding of sexual orientation and gender fluidity. 

Selected Tanka:

summer twilight
at the Stonewall Inn
he slides his hand
over the man beside him
murmuring, for real this time?

Chen-ou Liu

two-spirited
this (wo)man revered
by one culture
how could (s)he be
so reviled by another

Debbie Strange
(Note:  "Two-Spirit (also two spirit or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, pan-Indian, umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ceremonial role in their cultures..." --excerpted from the Wikipedia entry, Two-Spirit)

our hearts are pierced
in daily conversations
lives ripped apart
and pains unstitched
by personal pronouns

Barbara A. Taylor

wheat field
seed heads this way
& that
the uncle who became
a distant aunt

André Surridge

my partner and I
both wearing white dresses
down the aisle
I feel a jealous pang . . .
he looks better in heels

Tracy Davidson

black and white
paintings on the pot
the transgender
searches the streak of colors
to fill the gap of the emptiness

Pravat Kumar Padhy

he chose
surgery to become
a woman
posing as a man
to see his grandchildren

Ignatius Fay

tumbling
through winter
she knew she didn't stay fit...
a doll's life trapped
inside a young man’s body

Sergio A. Ortiz

I see him
in a three piece suit
at the train station --
the girl who once dreamt
of bridal veils

Chen-ou Liu

first gay
marriage in his family
the fragrance
of a cedar closet
his parents bought for him

Chen-ou Liu

A Room of My Own: Moon Shadow Haiku

the silence
after will you marry me ...
moon shadow

One Man's Maple Moon: Spring Rains Tanka by Michael Dylan Welch

English Original

all my books collect dust
except the one of love poems
you gave me that day
when the spring rains
kept us indoors

Winner, 1992 Tanka Splendor Contest

Michael Dylan Welch


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

除了愛情詩集
我所有的書都在堆積灰塵
你給我的那一天
正在下春雨
我們留在室內躲雨

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

除了爱情诗集
我所有的书都在堆积灰尘
你给我的那一天
正在下春雨
我们留在室内躲雨


Bio Sketch

Michael Dylan Welch is the founder of the Tanka Society of America (2000), and co-founder of Haiku North America conference (1991) and the American Haiku Archives (1996). In 2010 he also started National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo), which takes place every February, with an active Facebook page. His personal website is www.graceguts.com, which features hundreds of essays, reviews, reports, and other content, including examples of his published poetry.

One Man's Maple Moon: Dog Tanka by H. Gene Murtha

English Original

now that
you are gone
here i sit
on the front stoop
petting a dog i hate

Biding Time: Selected Poems 2001-2013

H. Gene Murtha


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

現在
你走了
我坐在這裡
在入口門廊之處
輕拍一隻我討厭的狗

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

现在
你走了
我坐在这里
在入口门廊之处
轻拍一只我讨厌的狗


Bio Sketch

H. Gene Murtha, a naturalist and poet, sponsored and judged the first haiku contest for the inner city children of Camden, NJ., for the Virgilio Group, of which he was a lifetime member. He was widely published for his work in haikai literature from the USA to Japan.

Butterfly Dream: Clouds Haiku by Marian Olson

English Original

even clouds
         touch and part
                                I remind myself

Desert Hours, 2007

Marian Olson


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

甚至雲彩
        只是觸及一會兒就分離
                                我提醒自己

 Chinese Translation (Simplified)

甚至云彩
        只是触及一会儿就分离
                                我提醒自己 


Bio Sketch

Marian Olson, non-fiction writer and widely published international poet, was the author of nine books of poetry, including the award winning haiku in Songs of the Chicken Yard, Desert Hours, Consider This, and Moondance.  Published in 2017, The Other and Kaleidoscope were her first books of tanka.

One Man's Maple Moon: Lego Truck Tanka by Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy

English Original

little hands
building a Lego truck
how neatly
they put the pieces
of my life together

Ribbons

Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

這些小手
打造一輛樂高卡車
多麼靈巧
它們把我的生活碎片
有條不紊地結合在一起

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

这些小手
打造一辆乐高卡车
多么灵巧
它们把我的生活碎片
有条不紊地结合在一起


Bio Sketch

Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy is a psychiatrist from Bengaluru India,  living in England. A trained vocalist and a composer in Indian classical music, he writes in Kannada, Sankethi, Tamil and English languages. His haikai writings have been published in reputed journals and anthologies and won prizes, worldwide. He is currently the Editor of Blithe Spirit, journal of The British Haiku Society.

Butterfly Dream: Old Tractor Haiku by John Hawk

English Original

rain
starting... stopping ...
the old tractor

A Hundred Gourds, 1:1, December 2011

John Hawk


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

細雨
開始 ... 停止 ...
舊拖拉機

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

细雨
开始 ... 停止 ...
旧拖拉机


Bio Sketch

John Hawk’s haiku poetry is published worldwide and recently won 1st Choice, Guest Judge Selection, in the IAFOR Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award contest. A communications professional in downtown Columbus, Ohio, USA, John enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife and two children. He can be reached at johnhawkpoetry@gmail.com